Australians may join UN force in Sudan

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A home of sorts ... Sudanese refugees ride their horses through camp Iridimi in Chad. Even more refugees may flee fighting in Darfur as heavy rains begin. Photo: Reuters/Radu Sigheti

Australia is looking to send troops to restore peace to Sudan, more than a century after 750 New South Welshmen arrived in the west African nation as Australia's first military expeditionary force.

The move may come in the wake of a declaration by the US Congress that the killings in Sudan's Darfur region constitute genocide. The United Nations has been reluctant to use that term, which in law has a specific and narrow definition.

Sudan Government-backed Janjaweed militia have killed thousands and displaced millions of non-Arabs in recent months in Dafur, in the west of the country.

The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said the terminology used to describe the killings was less important than fixing the problem. "Whatever you call it, it's a catastrophe," he said after meeting the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, last week.

USAID projects a death toll of 300,000 to 1 million from violence and starvation.

Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, joined his New Zealand counterpart, Phil Goff, yesterday in pledging more aid, condemning the violence and calling for a Security Council resolution to back a peacekeeping mission. Australia could send troops to join a UN force, but no decision had been made, he said.

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"It would be appropriate for us to make a small contribution to such a peacekeeping force if such a peacekeeping force would eventuate," Mr Downer said.

"Whatever happens there, we can't let people in Sudan die at the rate they've been dying."

Sudan is shaping as a test for the UN to prove its peace-keeping credentials. It also presents a chance for the US to repair bridges with allies estranged by the Iraq war.

Earlier Russia, China, Pakistan and Algeria opposed a threat of sanctions against Sudan in a US-drafted UN resolution aimed at keeping the pressure on Sudan until atrocities against civilians in Darfur stop, diplomats said.

The Brussels-based think tank, the International Crisis Group, says a decisive UN intervention could succeed.

A spokesman said: "It is too late to prevent substantial ethnic cleansing, but if the UN Security Council acts decisively - including by preparing to authorise the use of force as a last resort - there is just enough time to save hundreds of thousands of lives directly threatened by Sudanese troops and militias and by looming famine."

Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has asked officials to draw up plans for possible military intervention, but the country's immediate focus is on supporting the African Union, which is deploying 60 ceasefire monitors backed by a 300-strong protection force in Darfur.